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Notorious anti-vaping activist and accused sexual deviant Stanton Glantz may have finally jumped the shark in a December 28 tweet claiming vapers would be better off smoking. Perhaps even more disconcerting is that the tweet links directly to a blog post discussing recently published research whose findings are in direct contradiction to Glantz’s potentially deadly claims.

The linked study is authored by Dr. Maciej Goniewicz and involves the collection of biomarker data from over 5,000 vaping and/or smoking participants. The study’s primary objective was to determine the comparable variances in exposure levels of over 50 nicotine and other tobacco-related toxicants among smokers, vapers, and dual users. The paper entitled Comparison on Nicotine and Toxicant Exposure in Users of Electronic Cigarettes and Combustible Cigarettes is published on the JAMA network and makes the following assertions.

“These data suggest that current, exclusive e-cigarette use results in exposure to known toxicants. Toxicant exposure is greatest among dual users, and frequency of use of combustible cigarettes is positively correlated with tobacco product toxicant concentration. These findings provide evidence that using combusted tobacco cigarettes alone or in combination with e-cigarettes is associated with higher concentrations of potentially harmful tobacco constituents in comparison with using e-cigarettes alone. This study may provide a foundation for disease risk investigations in the PATH Study population.”

In a nutshell, the Goniewicz study indicates that – yes – vapers are exposed to a measurable amount of tobacco-associated toxins, but these levels are dramatically lower than those of conventional smokers. Meanwhile, dual users have toxicities levels that generally fall somewhere in between, which is just basic common sense, right?

Furthermore, even the term “dual use” can have several different meanings. For example, some vapers only smoke cigarettes on the weekends when out drinking with friends. Others engage in dual usage only when drinking their morning coffee, and yet another group might only vape at the office while regressing back to smoking while in the comfort of their own home. The variances in toxicity levels even among dual users are seemingly unlimited if the Goniewicz report is accurate.

But in an alarming rant on his blog hosted by the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF), Glantz twists the facts of the peer-reviewed research to fit his years-long anti-vaping rhetoric. Somehow, Glantz reads the Goniewicz paper and comes to the contrived conclusion that dual users are doubly exposed to both the toxicants of combustible tobacco and those of e-cig vapor. Therefore, vapers should just give up the vape and strictly smoke conventional cigarettes instead.

The Glantz tweet could quite possibly be deadly.

The implied message behind this misguided tweet is most definitely untrue based on reams of scientific research proving the contrary. The most widely cited study comes from a 2015 publication which indicates vaping is approximately 95 percent less toxic than smoking. However, to be clear, the UK report does not evaluate dual usage to the same significant degree as the Goniewicz paper.

What is the moral of this Twitter-induced tirade? For smokers who want to gain the optimum health benefits of vaping while reducing the maximum number of carcinogens and tobacco-related toxicities, avoid dual use completely. Give up smoking entirely. Commit 100 percent to vaping.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not necessarily represent the viewpoints, policy or company position of Vapes.com, the rest of our staff, and/or any/all contributors to this site.